USS Nimitz (CVN-68)
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USS Nimitz (CVN-68) USS Nimitz (CVN-68) off the coast of San Diego in July 2009. Career (U.S.) Name: USS Nimitz Namesake: FADM Chester W. Nimitz, USN Ordered: 31 March 1967 Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Cost: $1.0 billion (1975 dollars)[1] Laid down: 22 June 1968 Launched: 13 May 1972 Commissioned: 3 May 1975 Reclassified: CVN-68 Homeport: Naval Station Everett Motto: Teamwork, a Tradition Nickname: "Old Salt" Status: In active service, as of 2014 Badge: General characteristics Class & type: Nimitz -class aircraft carrier Displacement: 100,020 tonnes (110,250 short tons) [2] Length: Overall: 1,092 feet (332.8 m) Waterline: 1,040 feet (317.0 m) Beam: Overall: 252 ft (76.8 m) Waterline: 134 ft (40.8 m) Draft: Maximum navigational: 37 ft (11.3 m) Limit: 41 ft (12.5 m) Propulsion: 2 × Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors 4 × steam turbines 4 × shafts 260,000 shp (194 MW) Speed: 31.5 knots (58.3 km/h)[3] Range: Unlimited distance; 20-25 years Complement: Ship's company: 3,200 Air wing: 2,480 Sensors and AN/SPS-48E 3-D air search radar processing systems: AN/SPS-49(V)5 2-D air search radar AN/SPQ-9B target acquisition radar AN/SPN-46 air traffic control radars AN/SPN-43C air traffic control radar AN/SPN-41 landing aid radars 4 × Mk 91 NSSM guidance systems 4 × Mk 95 radars Electronic warfare SLQ-32A(V)4 Countermeasures & decoys: suite SLQ-25A Nixie torpedo countermeasures Armament: 2 × Sea Sparrow 2 × RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile 2 x PHALANX CIWS (Close-In Weapons System) Gatling guns Armor: Classified Aircraft carried: 90 fixed wing and helicopters USS Nimitz (CVN-68) is a supercarrier of the United States Navy, and the lead ship of her class. One of the largest warships in the world, she was laid down, launched and commissioned as CVAN-68 but was redesignated CVN 68 (nuclear-powered multimission aircraft carrier) on 30 June 1975 as part of the fleet realignment. The ship was named for World War II Pacific fleet commander Chester W. Nimitz, who was the navy’s third fleet admiral. Nimitzhad her homeport at Naval Station Norfolk until 1987, when she was relocated to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. Following her Refueling and Complex Overhaul in 2001, her homeport was changed to NAS North Island in San Diego, California. The home port of Nimitz was again moved to Naval Station Everett in 2012. Construction The keel of Nimitz was laid down 22 June 1968 by Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia. It was christened in 1972 by Catherine Nimitz Lay, the daughter of the late Admiral Nimitz. Nimitz was delivered to the Navy in 1975, and it was commissioned at Naval Station Norfolk on 3 May 1975 by President Gerald Ford. Overhauls October 1975 to December 1975 – Post Shakedown Availability May 1977 to July 1977 – Selected Restricted Availability October 1978 to January 1979 – Selected Restricted Availability October 1980 to January 1981 – Selected Restricted Availability April 1982 to June 1982 – Selected Restricted Availability – waist catapult bridle catcher removed. June 1983 to July 1984 – Complex Overhaul – forward port sponson added; Mk-25 BPDM replaced with Mk-29; 3 CIWS added. November 1985 to March 1986 – Selected Restricted Availability – forward port sponson changed/enlarged. August 1987 to February 1988 – Selected Restricted Availability August 1989 to March 1990 – Selected Restricted Availability October 1991 to May 1992 – Selected Restricted Availability December 1993 to January 1995 – Selected Restricted Availability – port bow catapult bridal removed. June 1996 to January 1997 – Selected Restricted Availability May 1998 to June 2001 – Refueling and Complex Overhaul – starboard bow catapult bridal removed; top two levels of the island replaced; new antenna mast; new radar tower; 2 RAM replace 1 CIWS/1 Mk- 29 at forward port sponson/aft starboard sponson; 2 CIWS at island/stern removed. February 2004 to August 2004 – Planned Incremental Availability – catwalk grating was replaced and flight deck resurfaced. March 2006 to September 2006 – Planned Incremental Availability July 2008 to January 2009 – Planned Incremental Availability November 2010 to March 2012 - Planned Incremental Availability - 2 CIWS added to forward starboard sponson enlargement/new port stern sponson. Nimitz Carrier Strike Group Nimitz is part of Carrier Strike Group Eleven (CSG-11) with Carrier Air Wing Eleven (CVW-11) embarked, with Nimitz as theflagship of the battle group and the home of the commander of Destroyer Squadron 23. Ships of DESRON-23 USS Stockdale (DDG-106) – Arleigh Burke -class destroyer USS William P. Lawrence (DDG-110) – Arleigh Burke -class destroyer USS Shoup (DDG-86) – Arleigh Burke -class guided missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG-76) – Arleigh Burke -class destroyer USS Princeton (CG-59) – Ticonderoga -class guided missile cruiser [4] Squadrons of CVW-11 Strike Fighter Squadron 154 (VFA-154) "Black Knights" with F/A-18F Super Hornets Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323 (VMFA-323) "Death Rattlers" with F/A-18C Hornets Strike Fighter Squadron 146 (VFA-146) "Blue Diamonds" with F/A-18C Hornets Strike Fighter Squadron 147 (VFA-147) "Argonauts" with F/A-18E Super Hornets Electronic Attack Squadron 142 (VAQ-142) "Gray Wolves" with EA-6B Prowlers Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 117 (VAW-117) "Wallbangers" with E-2C Hawkeyes Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 6 (HSC-6) "Screamin' Indians" with MH-60S Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 75 (HSM-75) "Wolf Pack" with MH-60R [5] Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 30 Detachment 3 (VRC-30) "Providers" with C-2A Greyhounds Service history 1970s Nimitz on her first deployment in 1976 alongside California and South Carolina. Nimitz (right) alongside HMS Ark Royal at Norfolk Naval Station in August 1978 USS Nimitz first deployed to the Mediterranean on 7 July 1976 with Carrier Air Wing 8 embarked in company with the nuclear-poweredcruisers USS South Carolina and USS California. In November 1976, Nimitz was awarded the Battle "E" from Commander, Naval Air Force U.S. Atlantic Fleet, for being the most efficient and foremost aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Fleet. The cruise was uneventful, and the carrier returned to Norfolk, Virginia on 7 February 1977. A second uneventful Mediterranean cruise was conducted from 1 December 1977 to 20 July 1978. The third deployment began on 10 September 1979 to the Mediterranean. The ship moved to the Indian Ocean in response to the Iran hostage crisis in which the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, was overtaken and 52 hostages were held. Prior to this trip, the ship took part in the shooting of the 1980 film The Final Countdown, and played a central role in the film. After four months on station, Operation Evening Light was launched from Nimitz'sdecks in an attempt to rescue the U.S. Embassy staff. The mission was aborted after a helicopter crashed at a refueling point in the Iranian desert. The ship returned home 26 May 1980, having spent 144 days at sea. 1980s On 26 May 1981, a Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler assigned to Carrier Air Wing 8 (CVW-8) crashed on the flight deck, killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45 others.[6] The Prowler was fuel-critical after a "bolter" (missed approach), and its crash and the subsequent fire and explosions destroyed or damaged eleven other aircraft. [7] During autopsies, several members of the Nimitz's enlisted flight deck crew who were killed, albeit not ones directly involved with the operation of the aircraft or the cause of the accident, tested positive for marijuana. Although marijuana use was not a cause of the actual aircraft mishap, the fact that so many of the enlisted ground crewmen had traces of THC while working on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier was a major cause of concern. As a result, President Ronald Reagan instituted a "Zero Tolerance" drug policy across all of the U.S. armed services, which started the mandatory drug testing of all U.S. military personnel.[8] Nimitz deployed again to the Mediterranean on 3 August 1981. The ship, in company with USS Forrestal, conducted a Freedom of Navigation exercise in international waters in the Gulf of Sidra near Libya on 18 and 19 August 1981. On the morning of 19 August 1981, two F-14As of VF-41 were engaged by two Libyan Su- 22s, resulting in the two Libyan aircraft being shot down in what became known as theGulf of Sidra incident. Nimitz's fourth deployment, from 10 November 1982 to 20 May 1983, was to the Caribbean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Nimitz deployed for a fifth time on 8 March 1985. On 14 June 1985, two Lebanese gunmen hijacked TWA Flight 847, which carried 153 passengers and crew and included Americans. In response, Nimitz was deployed to the coast of Lebanon, where it remained until August 1985. The embarked Airwing 8 flew continuous sorties for 67 days, bombing several sites in Beirut including the runways of Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport. The ship returned to Norfolk on 4 October 1985. Wreck of an EA-6B Prowler after it crashed during a night landing, 1981. Nimitz, again with CVW-8 embarked, departed Norfolk for its sixth and final Mediterranean deployment on 30 December 1986. After four months and numerous Mediterranean port visits, the carrier crossed the equator en route to Rio de Janeiro. From Rio, it proceeded south around Cape Horn and into the Pacific Ocean. After a brief stop in San Diego, to offload its East Coast air wing, it arrived at its new home port of Bremerton, Washington, on 2 July 1987. Nimitz deployed to the Western Pacific with Carrier Air Wing 9 embarked on 2 September 1988.